Circadian Rhythms
by Artemis Rae
Summary: Percy welcomes Annabeth home after some misadventures travelling.


Prompt fic! Original prompt was: Cinnamon, a welcome sign, a well worn leather jacket. Originally posted to AO3 and tumblr on 8/11/17.

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He'd wanted to stay up until she got home, but figured out that he'd failed to do so after being awoken by the soft _WHUMPF_ of a body flopping next to him sometime around two in the morning.

Percy breathed in the smell of leather from her jacket and smiled. "I hope you're Annabeth," he said without opening his eyes, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"No, I'm Jason." She deadpanned, exhaustion evident in her voice.

"Okay, now I know you're lying," He scolded. It was such a relief to have her close. "Because first of all, Jason wouldn't have been delayed with storms for two days, and second of all..."

He thought she'd fallen asleep; her breathing sounded regular to his ears, but a second later she piped up. "Second of all what?"

"Second of all, Jason and I wouldn't fit together on this couch." He said finally. He and Annabeth barely fit on the couch, even having invested in a chaise section specifically to stretch out on. It had been a trial trying to get it into their shoebox sized apartment, and they had agreed that they were leaving it when they moved out because it just wasn't worth the hassle of trying to get it back down the steps.

"Oh no, you caught me." She replied dully. She'd been in Seattle for a conference, just in time for a hurricane to work it's way up the East coast. It had been chaos getting back to New York. Her first flight had been delayed, then rerouted to Detroit after take off. She'd then spent another day being re-booked and cancelled on several other flights to New York, before finally taking a flight to Pittsburgh and renting a car and driving back to New York City.

She rolled onto her side, nosing into his shoulder. He tried not to flinch from the smell of her hair and wondered if she were too tired to get into the shower. "I tripped over your welcome sign."

Involuntarily, he smiled. "Me and Piper were going to go embarrass you at the airport."

"The glitter was a nice touch."

"Rachel gets me a discount on quality art supplies."

"So was the air horn."

"That was when Grover bailed."

Annabeth snorted. "Smart satyr."

"Come on," he pushed on her shoulder, trying to coax her into sitting up. "We can't sleep here, we won't be able to move tomorrow."

"You're not the boss of me," Annabeth grumbled, but consented to swing her legs around and sit up.

He took her hand, pulled her up onto her feet, and wondered how many times he'd held her hand this way, effortless and natural. She swayed into him, rubbing at her still closed eyes with her free hand. He wondered when she last got some actual sleep - she had the worst sleep cycle of anyone he knew, and if she was this tired he suspected that she must have only dozed at the airports.

"No monsters?" He asked lightly, half joking and half serious. Her jacket slung between them - she'd shrugged out of it one armed, but wouldn't let go of his hand to let it drop to the floor.

"No," She stumbled as she tripped over the skirt that she'd unzipped. "I did bring you a present from Detroit though."

"Is it the half of Cinnabon left over from dinner last night?"

"No," she answered, now distracted by the button-down shirt she was trying to undo one handed. "It's the quarter Cinnabon left over from breakfast this morning."

"I do love me some stale Cinnabon," he quipped, "but maybe I'll make us breakfast in the morning instead."

"It _is_ the morning," Annabeth replied forcefully. "And I need to go return the car first thing."

Like she wasn't about to sleep until three in the afternoon. His snarky reply died in his throat though when he turned his head and got a good look at her.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirt unbuttoned, wearing a pair of stockings. Her bra was nude, with pretty pink lace woven along the tops of the cups and around the sides. He'd never told her, but he _really_ liked that bra. Suddenly, he felt much more awake.

It took Annabeth all of ten seconds to notice. " _Seriously_ , Percy?" She gestured to herself. "This is doing it for you?"

It took him a minute to understand the surprise in her tone - what he'd seen was her long, muscular legs, her belly button peeking over the top of the pantyhose, and the pattern of pink lace over the swell of her breasts. But when he really looked at her he conceded, that yes, two days under the fluorescent lights of airports had leached all the color out of her skin except for the dark circles under her eyes, and that her hair was lank and greasy, falling out of a half-hearted top knot.

How was he supposed to explain that he hadn't even _seen_ that? That even just the way she was looking at him, not with any amount of lust but with eternal exasperation and affection, _did it for him_?

He shrugged helplessly. Annabeth rolled her eyes and toppled back on the bed, hooking her thumbs into the top of her pantyhose and shucking them down her legs, kicking into the air to get the blasted things off. He caught her by the ankle and tossed them aside, kissing her leg gently before setting it down.

"Percy…" she said in a warning tone, and then he collapsed onto the bed, half on top of her, burying his face in her neck and kissing up behind her ear. She laughed and wriggled, one of her hands coming up to stroke the back of his neck. "I guess this is when I should admit that I put on this bra to fly home in just because I knew you liked it."

Percy perked up.

" _Two days ago_." Annabeth finished, and he was reminded again of how very tired she was.

"Alright," he conceded, dragging himself away and reaching up to the head of the bed so he could pull the comforter down. All these years at camp, and he still only made the bed when he knew she'd see it. "Let's get some sle-"

He cut himself off abruptly. Annabeth had taken advantage of his open form to swing a leg over his hip and bite him on the shoulder. "...Annabeth?"

"How's this, Seaweed Brain," her voice was muffled by his skin. "If you can carry me to the shower, we can have sex in it."

"Yes!" He pulled himself back, hooked an arm under her knees and tugged her to the edge of the bed. She was laughing at him. "If you can stay awake I promise I'll do all the work!"

"One time!" She protested, arms snaking around his neck to hold on. "I only fell asleep _one time_!"

"Well I'll make sure you won't _this_ time," he promised, shouldering his way into the bathroom.


End file.
